Email Etiquette for Middle and High School Students
Summary
TLDRSydney Dunn's video emphasizes the importance of proper email etiquette for students, especially when communicating with teachers. She highlights the differences between casual texting and formal emails, advising against the use of slang, emojis, and demands. Dunn provides a step-by-step guide on crafting emails, including writing descriptive subject lines, using polite openings and closings, and asking clear, context-rich questions. She also offers a free PDF email etiquette guide for students at sdetiquette.com to help them navigate professional email communication effectively.
Takeaways
- 📝 Email skills are distinct from texting skills; emails should be formal and well-structured.
- 🔑 Capitalize the first letter of every sentence and always capitalize 'I' in emails.
- 🚫 Avoid using casual language and slang from text messages in emails.
- 😀 Use emojis sparingly and only after establishing a friendly relationship with the teacher.
- ⏱ Emails are not as instantaneous as text messages; allow teachers one full school day to respond.
- 📜 The subject line should be a short, descriptive summary of the email's content.
- 🌟 Start the email with a pleasant greeting using the teacher's title and last name.
- 🔍 Make your question clear by providing context such as page numbers, URLs, or screenshots.
- 🙏 Use polite requests instead of demands when asking for something from your teacher.
- 📩 End the email with a courteous closing and sign off with your full name, class subject, and period number.
Q & A
What is the main topic of Sydney Dunn's talk?
-Sydney Dunn's talk is about email etiquette, specifically how to communicate effectively with teachers via email.
Why is it important to distinguish between email and text messaging skills?
-Email and text messaging skills are different because emails are more formal and require proper grammar, punctuation, and a professional tone, unlike the casual nature of text messages.
What are some examples of casual words and phrases that should not be used in emails?
-Examples of casual words and phrases to avoid in emails include 'i know right', 'yep', 'hey', 'ok', 'lol', 'you're', 'yeah', 'please', 'sorry', and 'bruh'.
What is Sydney's stance on the use of emojis in emails?
-Sydney advises that emojis, while helpful in conveying tone and personality, are considered unprofessional in emails and should only be used after getting to know the teacher well, and even then, sparingly.
How should students approach the subject line when writing an email to their teachers?
-Students should write a short, descriptive summary in the subject line that reflects the content of the email body, which helps in organization and searching for old emails.
What is the recommended way to start an email to a teacher?
-The email should start with a pleasant greeting such as 'Hello', 'Good afternoon', or 'Good morning', followed by the teacher's title and last name, and a comma.
Why is it crucial to be clear and specific in the body of the email?
-Being clear and specific helps the teacher understand the context and the issue at hand, enabling them to provide accurate and helpful responses.
What is the difference between a polite request and a demand in an email?
-A polite request is courteous and includes phrases like 'can you please', while a demand can come across as forceful and may use imperative sentences without a question mark.
How should students end an email to their teacher?
-Students should end an email with a closing such as 'thanks' or 'thank you', and always sign off with their full name, class subject, and period number for clarity.
What resource does Sydney Dunn provide to help students remember email etiquette?
-Sydney Dunn provides a one-page email etiquette guide for students, available as a free PDF download from her website sdetiquette.com.
How long should students wait before sending a follow-up email to their teacher?
-Students should wait one full school day before sending a follow-up email to their teacher, as emails are not as instantaneous as text messages.
Outlines
📧 Email Etiquette Basics
Sydney Dunn introduces the concept of email etiquette, emphasizing the difference between casual texting and formal email communication. She advises against using texting language, emojis, and demands in emails, especially when communicating with educators and professionals. She also highlights the importance of patience when waiting for email responses, suggesting a full school day should pass before sending a follow-up.
📝 Crafting the Email: Subject Line and Opening
The second paragraph focuses on the structure of an effective email, starting with the subject line. Dunn advises against leaving it blank or overfilling it, recommending a concise summary instead. She then discusses the importance of a pleasant opening, suggesting formal greetings with the teacher's title and last name, and clarifying the use of titles for women.
🔍 Clarity in Email Communication
Dunn stresses the need for clarity in the body of the email, where students should provide detailed context for their questions. She gives examples of how to articulate issues clearly, such as attaching screenshots of error messages, to ensure teachers understand the problem and can offer appropriate assistance.
🙏 Polite Requests and Closing the Email
In the final paragraph, Dunn discusses the importance of making polite requests rather than demands when asking teachers for help. She also covers the significance of a proper closing, suggesting phrases like 'thanks' or 'thank you', and reminds students to sign off with their full name, class subject, and period number for clarity.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Email etiquette
💡Capitalization
💡Emojis
💡Subject line
💡Opening
💡Crystal clear question
💡Context
💡Polite request
💡Closing
💡Instantaneous
💡Email skills
Highlights
Sydney Dunn emphasizes the importance of proper email etiquette when communicating with teachers.
A distinction is made between email and text messaging styles, with a focus on formality in emails.
The use of casual language and emojis in emails is discouraged for professional communication.
Emails should be carefully composed with proper capitalization and punctuation.
The subject line should be a brief, descriptive summary of the email's content.
Openings should be polite, using appropriate greetings and titles for teachers.
The body of the email should include a clear and detailed question to provide context for the teacher.
Attachments like screenshots can help clarify issues when submitting emails to teachers.
Requests to teachers should be phrased as polite asks rather than demands.
The use of a question mark can transform a statement into a polite request.
The email closing should be courteous, often including thanks or thank you.
Emails should be signed with the student's full name and class details for clarity.
Emails are not as instantaneous as text messages; patience is required for responses.
A follow-up email should be sent only after giving the teacher one full school day to respond.
Sydney Dunn provides a free PDF download of an email etiquette guide for students.
The guide is available at sdetiquette.com for easy reference and printing.
Transcripts
hey there students my name is sydney
dunn and i'm here to talk about email
etiquette
if you're using emails as the main way
to communicate with your teachers your
email skills need to be on point
and notice i said email skills not
texting skills there's a big difference
between emails and text
texting with your friends is short
casual and full of words like
i don't know i know right yep hey
okay lol you're yeah
you please sorry and my favorites
bruh and yes
please don't use these in emails and i
know you type as quick as you can when
texting so do i but emails are different
and you should take your time to make
sure all your sentences start with a
capital letter and that i
is always capitalized as far as emojis
go
it depends emojis are a great way to get
your tone across and to show personality
but they're still considered
unprofessional in emails so only use
them after you get to know your teachers
really well and don't overdo it
and it's better just to leave them off
completely when it comes time to
emailing administrators college faculty
or future employers
and last thing to remember is that
emails are not as instantaneous as text
messages
you don't keep sending them one after
the other and you've got to wait and
give teachers
one full school day to respond before
sending a follow-up email
okay let's work our way through the
email first off the subject line
that poor little subject line sometimes
you guys leave this completely empty
and other times you type your entire
email in the subject line
why please don't do this the subject
line is the place to write a very short
summary
of what the body of the email contains
so be descriptive
it just helps keep everybody organized
and it really helps if you've got to go
back and search for an old email
next up is the opening there is so much
power in those first few lines to set
the tone of the email
so be pleasant you want to open with
hello or good afternoon or good morning
plus the teacher's title and last name
and then a comma
remember if a woman is married she's a
mrs if not she's a miz
and if you're not sure always go with ms
okay now on to the most important part
of the entire email
the crystal clear question
this is the part where you help the
teacher figure out what in the world
you're talking about
you should be doing everything you can
to make your question crystal clear in
this section
add details page numbers url links
screenshots whatever it takes to provide
the teacher some context to your
question
if you send an email that says i don't
know how to submit this
your teacher is going to be like well i
have no clue how to help you
but if you say i'm submitting my
persuasive essay through the portal and
receiving an error message that says xyz
do you have any suggestions or even
better
i'm having trouble submitting my
persuasive essay through the portal
i've attached a screenshot of the error
message do you have any suggestions
boom teacher knows exactly what you're
talking about and can take steps to help
you
and when you're asking your teacher for
something make sure you're asking
and not demanding even if you're not
intending to be rude it's easy to see
how the sentence
i turned in my paper and i need you to
put in my grade can sound like a demand
versus i turned in my paper can you
please put in my grade
adding that question mark makes it
instantly more polite
if you need your teacher to do something
for you polite request
will always get you better and faster
results than demands
all right last part stick with me the
closing don't forget the closing
there's lots of options but thanks or
thank you
is always a good choice and even if
you've met the teacher before
you should sign your emails with your
first and last name
also make sure you add your class
subject and period number to help your
teacher know exactly what class you're
in
that's it you made it so now when you go
to email your teachers you can snap out
of your text in mode and write that
to include a descriptive subject line a
pleasant opening
a crystal clear question and a good
closing
and to make all these email tips super
easy to refer back to i made you
a one page email etiquette guide for
students it's a free pdf download you
can print or save it on your computer
and you can find it at sd etiquette.com
email etiquette thanks for watching
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